Closure



. May 18, 1,948.

J. R. Hoes CLOSURE Filed March. 31, 1945 lllll gnwpwlw (JOHN F-HOGEPatented May 18, 1948' CLOSURE John R. Hoge, Toledo, Ohio, assignor toOwens- Illinois Glass Company, a corporation of Ohio Application March31,1945, Serial No. 585,863

2 Claims. (Cl. 215-40) 1 My invention relates to closures forhermetically sealing jars, bottles and the like containers, and moreparticularly to the so-called side seal type wherein a sealing gasket,or ring, carried by the closure, firmly contacts an exterior sealingsurface of the container immediately beneath the rim or mouth thereof.

It is an object of my invention to provide a closure of the abovecharacter in which the skirt portion isof such form and the sealinggasket is so positioned therein, that a satisfactory initial seal iseffected simultaneously with the first positioning of'the closure uponthe mouth of the receptacle, and solely due to the weight of the closurewhich functions to press the rim of the container slightly into thegasket. This is of considerable importance and advantage in the vaporvacuurnmethod of sealing food containers, wherein, for example, the jarsare transported through'a steam chamber to fill the head space with livesteam and while yet in the live steam zone, receive closures from aninclined cap chute, such closures being drawn from the chute byengagement with the rim of the continuously moving containers. See HohlPatent No. 2,357,- 826, issued September 12, 1944. It is important thatthe closures, incident to initial placement Fig. l is a fragmentary sideelevational view ipartly in section illustrating my closure attached toa receptacle.

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view on an enlarged scale showing theinitial position of the closure upon a receptacle prior to theapplication of top pressure thereto.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing a secondary sealingposition .of the closure assumed under initial top pressure appliedthereto.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail sectional view showing the closure in itsfinal sealing position.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but shows the closure raised slightlyas occurs incident to the building up of internal pressure, and thesealing gasket and groove in the receptacle securing the closure againstcomplete displacement.

' Fig. 6 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the closure. Closures ofthe type herein disclosed are ideally suited to the vapor vacuum sealing.of jars, bottles, and the like receptacles, .in that they may be easilyand rapidly aflixed to such containers while the latter are movingcontinuously or intermittently through a steam chamber, and as upon thecontainers, and prior to final attachment thereto, form a sufiicientlyefiective seal to entrap a substantial volume of live steam in the headspace and retain it therein during succeeding cap-applying operations.

To this end an area of that portion of the skirt immediately adjacentpart of the gasket is spaced therefrom to a degree which enables thegasket to yield outwardly slightly incident to initial placement uponthe container solely under the weight of the closure. Thus the gaskettends to wrap around the rim and provides an exceptionally wide initialsealing surface with the advantages stated heretofore.

It is also an object of my invention to provide a side seal type ofclosure, wherein the sealing gasket is so positioned and supportedtherein as to readily compensate to an unusual degree, for

irregular. or out-of-round rims at the fillingopening of containers, andthereby insure satisfactory initial sealing incident to the mereplacement (without applied top pressure) of a closure upon the mouth andprior to the usual succeeding final pressing of the closure onto thecontainer.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent orpointed out hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of my application:

stated heretofore, function with exceptional efiiciency to entrap andretain a substantial volume of live steam in the head space of thereceptacles. An example of a machine for vapor vacuum sealing containerswith closures of the type herein illustrated, is disclosed in the HohlPatent No. 2,357,826, issued September 12, 1944. The containers filled,with the exception of a suitable head space, with the commodity to bepreserved, are carried through a steam chamber and near the exit endthereof remove a closure from an inclined delivery chute simply throughengagement of the rim of the container with one edge of the closurewhich protrudes slightly below the chute. Forward travel of thecontainer pulls the closure out of the chute. Thereupon the closurerests upon and initially seals the receptacle so as to entrap live steamin the head space. The container with the closure resting thereon isthen moved to a cap-aflixing zone where a mechanical device presses theclosuredownwardly over the rim of the container and brings the sealinggasket into snug engagement with the external side sealing surface ofthe container.

My improved closure which is formed of sheet metal consists of acircular top portion Ill and a depending annular skirt Ii, or fiangewhich includes a lower gasket carrying part I! concentric with and ofsomewhat greater diameter than an upper part l3, portions of whichfunction to coning step. This initial sealing surface is spacedupwardlyfrom the final or main sealing surface Ii, byan annular groove II, whichunder certain conditions hereinafter related, interlocks with a part ofthe gasket to secure'the closure shown in Fig. 2, to that indicated inFig. 3 wherein the gasket is pinched between the bead II on thecontainer and the curved flange or bead at the bottom end'of the upperpart of the skirt.

This largely determines the amount of the sealing gasket that will becompressed between the upper part of the skirt and the main sidesealving surface ii of'the jar. Moreover, it increases 'the initialeffective sealing area of the closure skirt and gasket, thuscontributing further to the efficiency of the initial seal referred toheretofore.

' Finally, the closure assumes its final sealing position .(Fig. 4)wherein the gasket is held firmagainst lcomplete displacement in theevent excessive ternai pressure is developed, either during theprocessing of a commodity, or later, as often occurs with coffee.

Returning to the closure construction, the upper part of the skirt isJoined with the lower part by a generally radially extending annularstep 2|, which consists in effect of merging transversely curved flangesat the adjacent ends of the upper and lower parts of the skirt. Theflange at the lower end of the upper part of the" skirt constitutes abead 2i which cooperates with the bead IQ of the receptacle mouth as andfor a purpose to be described presently. With the exception of thegasket clamping or clinching bead 22 at the extreme lower end of theskirt, said lower part I! is spaced from the gasket whereby to permitready outward yielding of the gasket incident to initial placement ofthe closure upon the receptacle. To facilitate secure locking of thegasket and positive retention there--v of against upward movementrelative to the skirt, the continuity of the clamping bead may beinterrupted by short transverse slits 23 which in effect provide anannular series of individual jaws 24 capable of tight engagement withthe lower margin of thegasket. As shown, this gasket is of generallyoblong cross section and contacts the skirt only at the lower beadedmargin and at the extreme bottomend of the upper part of said skirt. Thegasket is of the usual rubber, or comly against the external sealingsurface is and under considerable compression between the lower area ofthe upper part of the skirt and the container wall.

' after sealing of the container, there may be developed such internalpressure as to push the closure outwardly from the Fig. 4 position. Whenthis occurs, the gasket snaps into the groove be- I vneath the bead andlocks the closure against position having the characteristics of beingcompressible and resilient and capable of effectively sealing againstthe receptacle wall.

In the application of my closure to a receptacle, it isflrst placed uponthe mouth thereof following filling with a commodity, and theintroduction, of a volume of live steam or vapor into the head space. Itis important that this steam be retained against escape and to this endthe present closure by reason of the resilience of the gasket and factthat it is not backed up by a rigid wall, performs perfectly. The gasketat its point of first contact with the so-called initial sealing surfaceon the bead i9, and solely because of the weight of the metal shell andgasket, yields outward and tends to wrap itself about the bead. Thus awide annular seal is further displacement and prevents breaking of theseal; Thus blowing off of the cap under exceptionally high internalpressure is avoided. Following the processing operation (cooking at hightemperature) the commodity and receptacle cool off, the internalpressure is again reduced, and the cap returns to its innermostposition. In the case of coffee packaging, gases are ordinarilydeveloped within the receptacle. Here again the groove and bead functionto prevent breaking of-the seal as indicated above.

It will be observed that the gasket is positioned at a definitely obtuseangle, this being conducive to easy initial placement of the closureover the mouth of a receptacle. Removal is facilitated by reason of theinterrupted clinching bead and the presence of a pry-off ledge L inclose proximity to said bead. By prying the skirt upwardly at two orthree closely spaced points circumferentially of,the head, the vacuummay be broken gradually and while the cap is still held against blowingoff, by the interlocking gasket and groove. Reseal is facilitatedthrough the presence of the groove which '"securely engages with thegasket when the cap is forced onto the receptacle to the positionindicated in Fig. 5.

Modifications may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A sheet metal closure comprising a circular top portion. a dependingannular skirt on said top portion including an upper part of the samediameter as the top portion substantially throughout its height, and alower diametrically enlarged part, said enlarged part including anobtusely tapered lower portion the angle of which is such that animaginary line extended upwardly and inwardly along the plane of theinner surface of said lower portion would substantially touch theinterior of the closure at the juncture of said upper and enlargedparts, a. sleeve gasket within the closure and normally contacting onlysaid tapered lower portion and the extreme lower end of said upper partof the skirt, and means for securing the gasket against shifting bodilyupward along the skirt.

2. A sheet metal closure comprising a circular top portion, a dependingannular skirt on said top portion including an upper part of the-samediameter throughout its height, and a lower diametrically enlarged part.said enlarged part including an If the commodity is processed.

as the top portion substantially obtusely tapered lower portion theangle or which REFERENCES CITED is such that an imaginary line extendedupwardly and inwardly along the plane of the inner eurg? fig gggs are orrecord m face of said lower portion would substantially touch theinterior of the closure at the juncture 5 UNITED STATES \PATEN' IS ofsaid upper and enlarged parts, a sleeve gasket within the closure andnormally contacting only gg f 3 e g a' said tapered lower portion andthe extreme low- 2 o25031 Algeo et 1 1935 er end of said upper part ofthe skirt and the 2'136'545 Gibbs 1933 lower marginal part of thetapered portion being an 2'339827 White 19% curled to grip the gasketfirmly and secure it 2364678 White 'f" 19% against shifting bodilyupward along the skirt. 2:365:737 white 19% JOHN 'Y 2,380,797 v SeverinJuly 31, 1945

